Orlando Golf Scene

The four-man scramble is one of the most enjoyable formats for team competition in golf. After all, finding one decent shot out of four is a welcome proposition to many golfers. Beginning this spring, golf clubs across the country will be able to compete in The Great American Scramble and vie for the coveted title of National Champions in Las Vegas.

After the longstanding Buick/Oldsmobile Scramble shut down in 2005, golfers were left without a national scramble competition. PGA Professional Wayne Stone decided to change that. Stone created an event aimed at bringing excitement, camaraderie and team-building experiences back to golfers through the scramble format.

Stone, who is the director of Golf at Windermere Country Club in Windermere, Fla., decided there was enough interest to create a national scramble just by gauging the response of his members to the loss of the Buick event. Encouraged by the feedback, Stone set out to create the national tournament that was currently missing from the golf world.

Two Diverse Challenges Right Down the Street

One plays hide-and-seek with century-old oaks, the other teases you with tie-wall bulkheaded greens bordered by water. One invites you to play all day for one low price, the other welcomes you into golf’s great history.

Yet, Kissimmee Bay Country Club and Remington Golf Club are located less than a mile apart, both centrally located just 15 minutes down the Florida Turnpike from downtown Orlando, 20 minutes from Disney World and just 10 minutes from the airport. Both courses are located on the west bank of Lake Tohopekaliga in Kissimmee and pride themselves on doing the little things right (like taking the care to walk-mow their greens) and the bigger things better (like completely overseeding in the winter to keep the rough lush and green all year round). 

“I thought I must write to thank you and your staff once again for the excellent treatment I, my family and friends received from you all on our recent visit back to Florida from England. Your hospitality, friendliness and professionalism really is a credit to you all at Remington and Kissimmee Bay. The courses and greens were in excellent condition and we all thoroughly enjoyed playing them again.”
– B. Wilson

One sure way to improve the quality of your next Florida golf vacation is to call Tee Times USA. The Florida-based company will make sure you play courses that truly fit your needs and budget. Known as the Florida golf vacation specialist, Tee Times USA offers a free advance tee time booking service as well as a fine array of all-inclusive golf vacations. You’ll have your choice of more than 300 Florida golf courses and hundreds of resorts, hotels, condominiums and villas. Discover what tens of thousands of Florida golf vacationers already know: Tee Times USA’s deals can’t be beat because the company deals in volume.

The landscape in Florida is littered with golf courses, making it difficult to discern the distinguishable characteristics that set one apart from another.

So it bears repeating if a Florida course is recognized, especially as a highly-anticipated newcomer to the scene.

Juliette Falls Golf and Spa Community located in the beautiful Ocala countryside, has already earned a sterling reputation despite only being in operation for a few months.

In the January 2008 issue of Golf Magazine the dramatic, new, semi-private golf club designed by John Sanford was selected among the “Top 10 New Courses You Can Play.”

“Golf Magazine’s recognition of Juliette Falls as one of the Top 10 New Courses You Can Play is a fitting testimony to this wonderful site and the time and effort give to it by magnificent architect John Sanford,” said Tom Cioffi, Director of Operations for Juliette Falls.

Picture this: The breezes are blowing across Central Florida (aren’t they always?), but unlike other courses in the area, Eagle Creek is firm and fast, with Scottish-style revetted bunkers between you and the pin 40 yards away. You shape a bump and-run shot within three feet and drain the putt to get into your buddy’s wallet. You’ve just experienced something you’ll fi nd nowhere else in the Orlando area, the true Scottish golf experience of Eagle Creek Golf Club, located just southeast of Orlando International Airport.

From the moment you arrive inside the gates at Eagle Creek and are greeted by the Union Jack flying alongside Old Glory, you know you’re in for a unique round. By the time you leave, you’ll likely have not only used every club in your bag, but something even more important, your imagination. For Eagle Creek offers a challenge nobody else in Central Florida can, or will. By not overseeding the summer Bermuda with winter rye, Eagle Creek gives you a taste of Scottish-links golf, with dry, hard and fast fairways and firm greens. At Eagle Creek, brown is beautiful.

Yes, there is a bear story behind Black Bear Golf Club northeast of Eustis in Lake County. Folks there vividly remember a decent sized black bear wandering by the clubhouse around Thanksgiving some years back, leaving a few paw prints, and a few mouths gaping as he “played through” down the ninth hole and back toward the Ocala National Forest just north of the course.

Of course, the legend of the bear grows every season, a fitting analogy for the stature of this golf course that at one time might have been considered far removed from the other great Orlando-area courses, but is getting impressively closer, both in location and quality-of-play, with each passing season. The host of seven straight USGA Public Links Qualifiers, Black Bear’s great design, fabulous finish, and a location that’s just 15 minutes off Route 429 are making it a destination course for hundreds of players every week.

There are only 17 golf courses in the country boasting a 5-Star rating from Golf Digest’s Places to Play. None of them are in Florida. For now. Celebration Golf Club, in the renowned Disney master-planned community of Celebration, is one of the few in the Sunshine State who can claim 4-1/2 stars, but they now believe they’ve got the elements in place to achieve that 5th star. As this club with so many unique features, beginning with its rare design collaboration of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. and his son RTJ, Jr., begins its second decade, Celebration has made a renewed commitment to its already award-winning experience in an effort to join the nation’s elite golf courses. 

It wasn’t so long ago that Champions - Gate Golf Club was “out there”. That newfangled Greg Norman 36-hole layout seemed to be far removed, on the very edge of Orlando, almost halfway to Tampa. It hasn’t taken long for ChampionsGate Golf Club to now feel more like the center of Orlando golf, and as the Golf Club (also the home base for the world-renowned David Leadbetter Academy) and the spectacular Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate mature into the fourth year of their budding relationship. Champions Gate has become the one-stop getaway that’s not very far away for everyone from blushing brides and grooms to corporate meetings to family get-togethers, with golf as the centerpiece of those gatherings.

What happens when a young, assertive company dedicated to service and quality purchases two of the more popular golf courses on either side of Orlando?

If history is a true indicator, great things await those two courses and the golfers who frequent them. And we are about to find out. The company is Kitson & Partners, known locally for its management of Dubsdread, the popular municipal course in College Park, and known internationally as a provider of great golf experiences at a wide variety of facilities.

The recently purchased courses? On the north side of Orlando in Lake Mary is Timacuan Golf Club, ranked as high as No. 14 in Florida. And on the south end in Davenport is Highlands Reserve, a Mike Dasher design that attracts both local and visiting golfers. And there are more purchases to come. 

That Aren’t Far Away Great Getaways That Aren’t Far Away

There is the Florida we’ve all heard about and visited many times before; destinations that roll off our tongue and memories that come quickly to mind. There is, however, another Florida that for many remains a mystery. We're talking about places where the same beauty and adventure await, but without the sense of “been there, done that.” Perhaps then, now is the time to meet those parts of the Sunshine State.

It could be as short as an overnight excursion, or a mid-week surprise. How about a weekend near the water, or a week-long opportunity you’ve put off way too long? Whatever the trip, Florida’s backyard is waiting, with great golf values and Stay-and-Play packages that can make your summertime getaway a whole lot more about relaxation and a lot less about relocation!